Privacy Policy
Effective date: September 24, 2026
Begin is a free personal project operated by Mitch Mitchell. This Privacy Policy explains how the questionnaire at begin.estate (the “Site”) handles information when you use it to prepare Texas estate planning documents.
The Site and the Begin Estate Planning Connector at mcp.begin.estate are different services with different designs. The Connector has its own privacy policy and terms. This Policy covers the Site only.
Privacy at a glance
- Encryption first. Your answers are encrypted in your browser before anything is sent to our servers.
- We cannot read your answers. Our servers store only ciphertext they cannot read. Your decryption key lives only in your resume magic link and in any backup file you download.
- Automatic deletion. Saved answers are automatically and permanently deleted 30 days after your last save.
- Documents stay with you. Generated documents are created in your browser. Your PDFs are never sent to our servers.
- No accounts. No accounts, no passwords, no email addresses. Begin sends no email.
1. Scope of this policy
This Policy applies only to information handled by the Site at begin.estate. It does not govern the Begin Estate Planning Connector, your browser, your device, your network provider, or any other service you use to reach the Site. Those services have their own terms and privacy policies.
This Policy also does not describe what you do with your own copies: answers backup files you download, PDFs you generate, print, save, or share, and magic links you keep are in your hands, not ours.
2. Information the Site handles
Information you type into the questionnaire
The questionnaire asks for the information needed to prepare the documents you request. Depending on your circumstances and choices, that may include your name, address, telephone number, date of birth, marital status, and Texas residency; names, addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, and relationships of a spouse, children, relatives, beneficiaries, executors, agents, guardians, physicians, and other people you identify; and your choices about distributing property, appointing fiduciaries and agents, guardianship, medical decision-making, end-of-life treatment, access to health information, and related estate planning matters.
Provide only information the questionnaire requests and that is reasonably necessary to prepare your documents. If you provide another person’s information, you are responsible for having authority to provide it.
How your answers are protected
Your answers are encrypted in your browser (AES-256-GCM) before anything is sent to our servers. The server stores only ciphertext it cannot read. Your decryption key exists only in your resume magic link’s web address and in any backup file you download — never on our servers. Anyone who has your magic link or your backup file can read your answers, so treat them the way you would treat the documents themselves.
If you lose both your magic link and your backup file, your answers are unrecoverable, and we cannot retrieve them for you.
Technical information
To serve the Site, our hosting and network infrastructure necessarily receives your Internet Protocol (IP) address and ordinary request data, such as request headers. The Site has no user accounts and stores no passwords or email addresses. Begin sends no email, so it collects no email addresses.
Information stored in your browser
The Site keeps two small items in your own browser, never on our servers: your color-theme preference (light or dark), and — in the same tab only, cleared when your session ends — a copy of your resume link so the same tab can find its way back. Clearing your browser data removes them.
Generated documents
When you generate documents, the PDFs are created in your browser from your answers. The generated files are never sent to our servers. What you download, print, save, back up, or share afterward is outside Begin’s control.
3. How Begin uses information
Begin uses information handled by the Site only to:
- present the questionnaire and determine which questions and documents apply;
- save your encrypted answers so you can resume later, and retrieve that ciphertext when you return with your magic link or backup file;
- generate the requested documents in your browser;
- operate, secure, and diagnose the Site; and
- comply with law, legal process, or binding governmental requests.
Begin does not use your answers for advertising, marketing, user profiling, or model training. Begin does not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
4. Retention and deletion
Saved answers are automatically and permanently deleted 30 days after your last save. Expiry is automatic deletion: when the 30 days run out, the ciphertext is gone and cannot be recovered by you or by Begin.
There is no account to log into and no dashboard for managing saved answers. Your magic link and any backup file you downloaded are the only ways back to them. If you want your saved answers gone, stop using the link and let the 30-day expiry run — or simply never save.
Your color-theme preference stays in your browser until you clear it. The same-tab resume copy is cleared when your session ends.
5. When information may be disclosed
Begin does not sell personal information, share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, or disclose it to data brokers.
Information may be processed or disclosed in these limited circumstances:
- Hosting and network provider. The Site runs on Cloudflare infrastructure. Cloudflare necessarily processes network traffic and related technical data to route and secure requests and run the Site.
- Legal and safety requirements. Information may be preserved or disclosed if reasonably necessary to comply with applicable law, a valid legal process, or a binding governmental request; to protect the rights, property, or safety of users or others; or to investigate misuse of the Site. Because the server stores only ciphertext it cannot read, Begin generally will not have readable answer data available.
- Service transition. If responsibility for operating the Site is transferred, this Policy (or notice of materially different terms) will continue to govern information handled by the Site.
6. Security
Begin uses safeguards intended to reduce privacy and security risk, including encrypting your answers in the browser before transmission, storing only ciphertext on the server, automatic deletion after 30 days, generating documents locally in your browser, and collecting no accounts or email addresses.
No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. Do not use the Site if you are uncomfortable with this design. Guard your magic link and backup file: anyone who has them can read your answers. And protect your PDFs after they are generated — they may contain names, addresses, family relationships, medical choices, and other highly sensitive information.
7. Your choices and rights
You control whether to answer the questionnaire, what information to provide, and whether to save your progress. You may stop at any time.
Depending on where you live and applicable law, you may have rights concerning personal information, such as rights to access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy. The Site has no user accounts and the server cannot read your encrypted answers, so Begin generally cannot identify, retrieve, or reproduce your answers. Begin may ask for information reasonably necessary to verify and respond to a privacy request, but you should not send estate planning answers merely to make such a request.
8. Information about children
The Site is intended for adults who are preparing their own documents. It is not directed to children under 18, and children should not use it directly.
An adult estate planner may need to provide limited information about a minor child, such as the child’s name, birth date, relationship, and proposed guardians. The Site handles that information with the same browser-side encryption and automatic-deletion practices described above.
9. Where information is processed
The Site is designed only for Texas residents preparing Texas documents. Begin and its service providers may process information in the United States and other locations where they operate. Those locations may have privacy laws that differ from the laws where you live.
10. Changes to this policy
Begin may update this Policy to reflect changes in the Site, its providers, or applicable law. The revised version will identify a new effective date. If a change materially affects how saved answers are handled, Begin will provide notice on the Site before the new practice applies when reasonably practicable.
11. Contact
Privacy questions or requests may be sent to the operator using the public contact method published on the Begin website. Please do not include estate planning answers, Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, medical records, or copies of generated documents in a privacy inquiry unless specifically requested through a secure channel.
Begin is a free personal project operated by Mitch Mitchell. This policy covers the questionnaire at begin.estate only.